Bali Hai

Selamat Pagi. Good morning! sitting in airconditioning at the moment, in a quiet internet cafe off the side of a busy motor cycle buzzing road, or "jalan", in bali. sanur to be precise. so i have been in bali for a week now and i am loving it. it feels like ive come "home" even though i havent been here for 5 years and wasnt even born here. i feel just so comfortable and at ease with the lifestyle. which i am soo happy about. fallon, my friend who came with me, and i spent two nights in the kuta/ legian area. wasnt too bad there, but probably the most 'western' part of bali and the most unpeaceful. impossible to walk down a street without being hassled. its okay though, as dad says just have to be tolerant, it isnt harmful. its a little tough for fallon though as she has the perhaps at the moment unfortunancy of being white. from there we stayed in ubud, which the cultural and creative cente of bali. i felt such a connection with the place, i can not describe it. the people are beautiful, calm and at ease as well as just being maginificent to watch. walking along the uneven pathways and looking at the colours in the shops, its really surreal. especially having the rice paddies right next to you. from there we went to the north to singaraja to stay with my grandma. fallon got the experience the crazy family. poor thing must have been soo overwhelmed. we went to my grandmas village called les, it is the coolest place ever. its on the beach, no electricity, they eat what they grow, they make salt there and the beach is just prestine. away from any polution and tourists. i had to take a moment to appreciate where i was. i had my birthday there too, my relatives made a special effort for me, with a cake and birthday dinner, it was soo cute. anyways so now we are in sanur, much better than kuta in that it is less touristy and busy. fallon leaves on friday and i will stay on with family till just before new years.

so yes, many people are so reserved about going to bali now and now that im here it really saddens me the attitudes, especially in australia, that some people have of the place. it is soo gorgeous here and so much more than some where for an over weight aussie to have a pissup. hahahaha ahhhh i could probably rant on now, but i wont... i just feel sorry for the people, they are really suffering with the decline of travellers, its really sad. oh well, i can only hope things get better for bali in the near future.

simone if your reading this... hello! i found a bjork dvd for you, its pirated, so hopefully it works. its of a live concert, looks pretty good. when you see karen tell her im soo sorry i havent been in contact, but my mobile doesnt work here. i tried all these sim cards but it wouldnt accpet any of them. so hopefully i can give her call when i buy a phone card or something in the comming week. its been annoying not having a phone cause i havent been able to get into contact with anyone. anyways hope you are having great start to the summer in your new house. lots of love :)

until next time :)